Time selector for electrical mechanisms



March 13, 1951 w, sw 2,545,055

TIME SELECTOR FOR ELECTRICAL MECHANISMS Filed June 20, 1950 Fig 1 23 6 pgvgszvrgk. ear e w/zer 3 24 29 H 3 BY g 27 EAMIQAJLW Patented Mar. 13, 1951 UNITED STAT ES. PATENT OFFICE TIME SELECTOR FOR ELECTRICAL MECHANISMS This invention relates to miprovem'ents in time selectors for electrical mechanisms: and ha particular reference to a time selector for electrical equipment; such as a. radio, whereby the same may be turned on or oft at various time intervals.

The principal o'biect or this. invention is to provide an attachment which. includes a switch-- ing arrangement wherein. a plurality of independent switches may be pre-set later connected through the actuation of the clock. mechanism so as to control the flow of current to aradio; causing it function in a normal manner at:- a set time and for a selected station.

A further object is to produce a device which isv economical; to manufacture, one which is neat in appearance and one which: may be readily transported- Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course at the following description.

In the. accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which: like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Fig; 1 is a front elevation of my device, show ing the plurality of switches, together with a clock face,

Fig; 2 is a schematic wiring diagram, and

Fig. 3' is a cross-sectional view of one of the switches taken in the line 3-3 of 2, as well as a portion of the slotted cover plate.

Radio programs are broadcast at' definite time intervals, usually starting on the hour and running for -minute periods, or multiplesthereof, It also often occurs that a person may wish to listen to a program at a certain time, but through being busy, neglects to do so. Or it maybe pos-- sible that a person may wish to listen to several programs during the day. With my device it is possible to do so by pro-setting each contact in the switching arrangement at a definite position so that at a certaineriod the radio will be turned on and at the desired station tobe listened to.

' For instance, assuming that there are five local stations, then a person can listen to any one of those five stations over a period of twelve or twenty-four hours; as the case may be, depending on the number of switches.

In the illustration shown in the drawings in Fig; 1, I have shown twenty-four" switches. It

is of course understood theremaybe any number of switches sothat the divisions of time" may represent ten minutes", fifteen minutes, half hours, or any other division desired. In the presentinstance the twenty-four switches would be sufficient for half-hour programs over a twelvehour period.

Also in Fig. l itwillbe noted that each of these switches may be moved vertically in a slot so as to come to: rest at any one of. six positions, the position being off; and: theotherfive positions 2 being that where theswitch is connected. to one of the five stations in. the community. 7

Referring tothe accompanying drawings wherein, for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the nu.- meral 5 designates clock, the face of which indicates the time of day. The numeral 8 refers to an off and on switch which is in turn connected to line wire 1, the other line wire being shown at 8, so that when the switch is opened or closed, current Will flow through the device.

Referring now to- Fig. 2,. itmay be noted that the clock motor 9 is adapted to drive a disc I l, through a reduction gear arrangement- This disc has a moving contact I2 attached thereto, adapted to move over contacts [3 arranged. in circular formation, only five of which. are shown in order to simplify the drawing.

The. clock motor 9' receives. its current from the wir s 1 and 8, and serves to drive a disc M throughv a reduction gearing; this disc has upstanding lug, l6, adapted to move the spring H against the contact point l8 connected to line wire 7.

This spring ll also has contact, through end I 9, with the disc I 1 upon which it rests.

At 21., 22, 2-3, 24,. 26- and 21, I have shown buss bars; each of which is connected to a series of horizontally arranged contacts 28, carriedupon a panel 29'. I

Mounted in front of each vertical line of con.- tacts 28 is a rod 31 upon which is mounted a slider 32'. This slider has an insulated portion 321' which. extends, through the slots in the: slotted cover plate. IS. The slider engages one of the contacts 28, thus completing a circuit through 1 the rod 3| and wire 25, to one of the contacts I3.

The buss bars 21 to 2'! inclusive are each electrically connected to spaced contacts, such as shown at 20,. mounted on a: switch plate: 30. A rotating portion 33 normally contacts all of these contacts 20,. with. the exception of one which will be opposite a cut-out portion 34, thus providing an open circuit to the. particular contact 20 that the cut-out portion is. opposite.

In order to mute the radio to which my device is connected so there: will be. no objectionable noises issuing from the loud speaker during the changing from. one station to the other, I provide a muting device which consists of a: relay 3'! in the radio current supply circuit designated by the numeral 40.

This relay 31 has one side connected to the rotary" portion 33' of the: rotary portion 33 of the switch and has its. opposite sideconnected to one side of a motor 38, and. through. the motor 38 to the linezwire 8..

This motor 38- serves to rotate the rotary portions 33 and 33' of. the switch through. a reducing gear;. and also. serves: to rotate, .throu'gh a to the slow movement of the lug It).

reducing gear, a contact 39 of a second rotary switch 4 I.

This contact 39 is grounded as shown at 45, whereby when the contact 39 rotates, it will successively engage contacts 43, 44, 46, 41, 48 and 49, which contacts are in turn connected through wires 5|, 52, 53, 54, 56 and 57! respectively to a standard radio frequency amplifier designated as a whole by the numeral 58, and from this, through the medium of a radio frequency oscillator, the radio set to which the device is connected will function and be tuned to the proper station selected.

The operation of my device is as follows:

Assuming that the device has been connected to a source of electrical energy and to a radio to be operated, then the user selects one of the switches, such as switch A, and moves it from the off position, as shown in Fig. 3, downwardly on the rod, so that it will contact 28 connected, for instance, to buss bar 22.

We will now assume that this particular switch A represents a period of time from 12 to 12:30, and that it is desired to select a station controlled by the buss bar 22.

The result of the moving of this switch downwardly will be that the clock motor 9, which is constantly rotating, rotates the disc H and the contact l2, moving it into engagement with contact I3, connected to the first rod SI, or what might be termed the 12-12230 rod.

The disc II is so geared down that it makes only one revolution in the twelve hours. However, no current will be flowing between the contacts l2 and 13 until a second contact is made by the rotating of the disc I4, which causes the lug I6 to engage and move the spring I'I against the contact I8. Now current can flow from the wire I through the contact ill to spring I1 and through the end I9 to the disc I I, thence through contact I2, to contact I3, and by wire to rod 3|, thence by slider 32 to contact 28 and buss bar 22, thence to contact 26, connected to buss bar "22, and through the rotating portions 33 and 33 of the switch 38, through wire 36 and relay 3i, and through motor 38, to the other side of the line 8.

The completing of the electric circuit will cause the relay 3'5 to blank the radio circuit momen- 34 around until it is in alignment with contact 20 connected to buss bar 22, at which time the circuit will be opened and the motor 38 will stop rotating.

It will be here noted that as soon as the circuit is opened to the buss bar 22, there will no longer be any flow of current, even though the spring I I is still in engagement with the contact I8 (due There also is no flow of current between the contact I2 and the contact I3, and therefore it is free to move to its next contact IS in the series without causing any interruption of the circuit.

This motor 38 simultaneously rotates contact 39 until it is in engagement with the contact which will then be grounded through ground 45.

'This grounds the coil in the radio frequency am plifier to which it is connected and which coil has been pre-tuned to the particular station which the buss bar 22 represents.

The radio frequency amplifier referred to and contact from each fixedcontactto the next in the the various tuning coils therein, are common to all present-day push-button tuning, whereby the mere pushing of a button controls the frequency of input whereby the audio portion of ;the set will produce the signal received from a-particular station. I

By this time, the relay 3'! has re-established the circuit to the radio, and the same will start to play and will continue to play until the clock r motor 9 has moved the contact I2 to the next succeeding contact I3, and the disc I4 has rotated so as to again complete a circuit between the spring I1 and the contact I8.

At this time, a new circuit will be established, as before described, and if the second slider in the series has been moved from its top position downwardly until it is opposite one of the buss bars 22 to 27 inclusive, then a new circuit will be established"- in the manner before described.

However, if the second switch is left on off position, then the radio will be turned off until a new circuit has been established.

This same procedure .will occur time after time throughout the dayat either half-hour or fifteen-minute intervals, depending upon the number of sliders used for the twelve-hour period. It will thus be seen that I have produced a device which will accomplish all the objects above set forth. 1

It is to be understood that the form'of my invention herewith shown and-described is :to be taken as a preferred example of thesame and that various changes relative'to the material, size, shape and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is: r

1. In a time controlled circuit closer, a series of parallel bus-bars,-a series of spaced parallel conductive rods-extending transverselyflof said series in spaced relation thereto, sliding contacts each slidably mounted on a respective rod for selective engagement with said bus-bars, a series of stationary contacts each connected to a respective rod, a movable contact traversing the series of stationary contacts, a rotary disc conductively connected with the movable contact and effecting its movement, clock activated means rotating said disc, a current supply line, and means intermittently effecting conductive connection between said disc and supply line.

2. In a time controlled .circuit closer, a series of parallel bus-bars, a series of spaced parallel conductive rods extending transversely of said series in spaced'relation thereto, sliding contacts each slidably mounted on a respectiverod for selective engagement with said bus-bars, a series of stationary contacts each connected to a respective rod, amovable contact traversing the series of stationary contacts, a rotary disc conductively connected with the movable contact and effecting its movement, clock activated means rotating said disc, a current supply line, a rotary cam disc driven by said clockwork to effect one complete rotation during the movement of the movable brush and normally open from the last mentioned fixed contact, and a lug on said cam disc closing the last movable contact of thelast fixed contact.

3. In a time controlled circuit closer, a series of parallel bus-bars, a series of spaced parallelconductive rodsextending transversely of said series in spaced relation thereto, sliding contacts each slidably mounted on a respective rod for selective engagement with said bus-bars, a series of stationary contacts each connected to a respective rod, a movable contact traversing the series of stationary contacts, a rotary disc conductively connected with the movable contact and effecting its movement, clock activated means rotating said disc, a current supply line, means intermittently effecting conductive connection between said disc and supply line, and means selectively controlled by current in said bars for selectively grounding the pretuned tuning coils of a radio receiver.

4. In a time controlled circuit closer, a series of parallel bus-bars, a series of spaced parallel conductive rods extending transversely of said series in spaced relation thereto, sliding contacts each slidably mounted on a respective rod for selective engagement with said bus-bars, a series of stationary contacts each connected to a respective rod, a movable contact traversing the series of stationary contacts, a rotary disc conductively connected with the movable contact and effecting its movement, clock activated means rotating said disc, a current supply line, a rotary cam disc driven by said clockwork to effect one complete rotation during the movement of the movable contact from each fixed contact to the next in the series, a brush engaging the first disc, a fixed contact to which said supply line is connected, a movable contact conductively connected to said brush and normally open from the last mentioned fixed contact, and means selectively controlled by current in said bars for selectively grounding the pretuned tuning coils of a radio receiver.

5. In a time controlled circuit closer, a series of parallel bus-bars, a series of spaced parallel conductive rods extending transversely of said series in spaced relation thereto, sliding contacts each slidably mounted on a respective rod for selective engagement with said bus-bars, a series of stationary contacts each connected to a respective rod, a movable contact traversing the series of stationary contacts, a rotary disc conductively connected with the movable contact and effecting its movement, clock activated means rotating said disc, a current supply line, a rotary cam disc driven by said clockwork to effect one complete rotation during the movement of the movable contact from each fixed contact to the next in the series, a brush engaging the first disc, a fixed contact to which said supply line is connected, a movable contact conductively connected to said brush and normally open from the last mentioned fixed contact, a lug on said cam disc closing the last movable contact of the last fixed contact, a third rotary disc, said third disc having a gap in its periphery, a series of fixed contacts spaced around said third disc for engagement with the unbroken portion of its periphery, conductive connections between the last series of contacts and respective bus-bars, a second supply line, a conductive connection between the second supply line and the third disc, a second clockwork means rotating the third disc, a grounded rotary contact driven by the last mentioned contact, a third series of fixed contacts wherewith said grounded contact successively engages, and conductive connections leading from the third series of contacts for connection to the pretuned tuning coils of a radio receiver whereby to selectively ground said coils.

GEORGE W. SWITZER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,050,719 McClure Aug. 11, 1936 2,072,046 Estermyer Feb. 23, 1937 2,078,487 Fedor Apr. 27, 1937 2,165,483 Huggins July 11, 1939 2,177,479 De Tar Oct. 24, 1939 2,190,699 Cole Feb. 20, 1940 2,215,842 Thomsen Sept. 24, 1940 2,228,969 Osborn Jan. 14, 1941 2.240.499 Elliott May 6, 1941, 

